Northwest Dive Club

Keystone Saturday January 28, 2017. I don't think I have ever seen so many divers in the water here
And that is just a part of the picture
It was great to finally meet many of NWDive club people in person.

It turned out to be a rather chilly day, but the weather cooperated as well as might be expected for the end of January. The wind and waves were both manageable.
A few of us stopped at the celebrated Pickles Deli for coffee and picked up sandwiches for later. I've never seen so many divers at Keystone before! All of the tables were full, and parking spilled over to adjacent areas.

Ok so I didnt have much that turned out for photos...im a newb at wide angle, more of a macro guy as you will see in my two wide angle shots I will post. It was my first time at Keystone, and it was awesome! What a turnout! And I finally met Jan! This was a trip for the books. Here are my shots, including those from my phone.
From the Rock of LIfe.. It was a windy chilly day, but one Id glady do again! Thanks all for the diving!

Was an awesome event. Thanks for organizing Eric. Here are some grabs from the video.

Happy Sunday!!!!
Such fantastic snaps all around! Great job you guys!!! I love the PMHs Stephen! Also nice work on the WA Gdog! (it was sooooo much fun to see you underwater at Keystone) Also super work by Jan! & thanks to YellowEye for planning the trip! The current and viz were so nice!
I was in my happy place yesterday! It was soooooo cool to see almost everyone I've ever dove with at my favorite dive spot, Keystone! And a pre party at Pickles!!!

Here are a few of my pics!

Jess, some really awesome shots! You missed out on the post dive pickles stop, a really good philly sandwich!

Stephen, awesome PMH! I love the nudi with the pmh in the background, really cool.

Great day everyone! It was good to see so many friends, new and old! I had a blast diving with SquareFish as my main buddy.

Conditions under the waves were great. Good viz, thriving life. I saw 2 decorated warbonnets and I wasn't even looking for macro stuff. I also saw a sand dollar! (I didn't know they had those there).

Jan, great collage! I'm so glad you did that. Not often enough does something like this happen in the dive community

Nice capture of that painted greenling and nest, George.

Stephen, I can't wait to see the video. I have yet to see a PMH video!

Awesome snaps ScubaJess!

Here were some of my captures...

Nice Photography guys! I hope that now many of you newcomers to Keystone
make it to Whidbey more often! There is more to our island than Keystone and Pickle Deli !

Here's some of my shots. First dives with the macro lens, so they are nothing special. Still need to work on strobe positioning to deal with backscatter. Really need to get a drysuit after those 2 dives...

Hey, jmartel, actually some really nice shots! Like the nudis, and the warbonnet! And yes... Get a drysuit, you will not believe the difference!

Jeff -- fantastic debut of your macro work! Great to meet you and hope to dive with you again soon!

Will do. Need to dive a few more times in the next couple weeks so I can prepare for the blackwater dive in Kona. Macro+Lighting game needs to be strong for that dive.

jmartel wrote:Will do. Need to dive a few more times in the next couple weeks so I can prepare for the blackwater dive in Kona. Macro+Lighting game needs to be strong for that dive.

The blackwater dive is awesome!!

jmartel wrote:Will do. Need to dive a few more times in the next couple weeks so I can prepare for the blackwater dive in Kona. Macro+Lighting game needs to be strong for that dive.

I'd recommend practicing shooting jellies (or other small flittery critters like winged slugs) at night in the water column. That, plus a good focus light (with more flood, less spot) should help get you ready for the black water dive.

Nice shot of the Cockerells Dorid!

was a good day

mpenders wrote: I'd recommend practicing shooting jellies (or other small flittery critters like winged slugs) at night in the water column. That, plus a good focus light (with more flood, less spot) should help get you ready for the black water dive.

Nice shot of the Cockerells Dorid!

Yeah, I've shot jellies and stuff before when I see them. We'll see how many I come across before I leave for Hawaii, but it's only 2 weeks out.

... my contributions ...

This pair of widehand hermits were fighting ... I assume the one on the left wanted the larger shell being worn by the one on the right ...



We saw about a half-dozen juvenile wolfies down at the barnacle reef ...



Lovely egg mass on the Rock of Life ... I'm told they belonged to a nearby painted greenling ...



Cockerell's dorid ... I've been finding them pretty reliably on the Rock of Life ...



Dentronotid diversicolor ... one of several we saw on the jetty ...



Kelp greenling eggs nestled inside an abandoned giant barnacle shell, surrounded by orange social ascidians ...



... a closer look reveals the tiny, almost formed fish curled up inside each egg ...



One of the ubiquitous tiny sculpins one can see pretty much anywhere on the jetty ...



It was nice to socialize with all the divers present on Saturday ... but it sure got crowded down below at times ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Wow great shots all!!

Gdog wrote:Wow great shots all!!

Got that right George!!

Looks like a good time Had by all

H20doctor wrote:Looks like a good time Had by all

We missed you Doc!

Gdog wrote:

H20doctor wrote:Looks like a good time Had by all

We missed you Doc!

Awe Shucky darn thanks... but from the looks of it there was no parking.. Thats the most divers I've ever seen there.. Dive a palooza

First off, great pictures from everyone. I don't get up there too often but when I am able to get all the way to the end of the Jetty, that's a good day, and we got there this weekend. I had two great dives that day.